Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1475604
AUGUST 2022 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 9 be at least part of the solution. Columnist John Watson discusses some new design techniques for these inflationary times (DFI, anyone?). One of his best pieces of advice: Stop making knee-jerk decisions. Columnist John Coonrod takes us through the benefits of hybrid multilayer construction, which can increase reliability while cutting costs. And columnist Kelly Dack pontificates about the importance of avoiding component "logjams" by maintaining practical packaging density during the design phase. We also fea- ture columns from many of our regular con- tributors, and welcome new columnist Beth Massey from Electrolube. You'll also find our printed electronics roundtable and my review of Cadence's thermal integrity webinar. Our Big News As many of you have heard, IPC has acquired I-Connect007. It makes a lot of sense; we've been their media partner at IPC APEX EXPO for over a decade, and we enjoy working with them. Not much has changed, really. Barry Matties is still our publisher, but now he might be able to take a day off every now and then. See you next month! DESIGN007 Andy Shaughnessy is managing editor of Design007 Magazine. He has been covering PCB design for 20 years. To read past columns, click here. chain experts for 2023 and 2024, we may not have a choice. In this issue, we share a variety of strategies and technologies to help reduce your overall material consumption during the PCB design cycle. is will help lower costs, streamline the supply chain, and add competitive advantage. We start out with a conversation with Happy Holden, who explains why risk-averse design- ers have not traditionally tried to conserve materials in their designs, and why it's time for designers to embrace new technologies such as VeCS. Happy includes some tips on material conservation, as well as his relative cost index (RCI) that helps designers figure out the cost per square inch of a new design. Columnist Barry Olney discusses a ra of design strate- gies that can cut costs, including choosing the correct laminate and using simulation early in the design cycle. Next, Cherie Litson shares her tips for lowering the cost of manufacturing your board, and as she points out, sometimes reducing layer count is actually a bad idea. Alun Morgan provides a great macro view of the whole supply chain situation. As he points out, even if the container ship bottleneck opened tomorrow and the components we needed were suddenly available, it would still take months for these parts to reach their final destination. And the docks are still trying to fill open positions. Columnist Dana Korf walks us through how we got into this mess as he explains why designing for conservation may